Marshalls study finds concrete facing bricks have smaller carbon footprint than clay ones

Calculations by Marshalls show that the UK’s housebuilding sector could dramatically reduce its carbon footprint by switching from clay facing bricks to concrete facing bricks.

Following the publishing of a new Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for its concrete facing bricks, Marshalls has uncovered that for every tonne of concrete facing bricks used instead of more traditional clay facing bricks, housebuilders could cut the total carbon lifetime footprint by almost half (49.1%). This is based on a comparison between the emissions across the whole life cycle (GWP Total A1-C4) of Marshalls' Facing Bricks EPD, published 2024, and the Brick Development Association UK Clay Brick EPD issued 2019, and would equates to 116.50 kilograms of CO₂e per tonne of bricks.

When scaled to the total number of bricks used to construct homes during 2023 – which Marshalls estimates to be approximately 1.1 billion – the carbon footprint savings are substantial. If all dwellings built in the UK during 2023 were constructed using concrete facing bricks, the UK could have saved 214,057 tonnes of CO₂e.

Mike Edwards, Group Head of Sustainability for Marshalls, commented: “Housebuilders are under immense pressure to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction process and the homes they build under net zero targets. But one of the challenges for the sector is that many meaningful improvements often require a massive overhaul of house designs that can affect aspects such as pace of build, useable square footage and saleability for example.  

“Changing to concrete facing bricks, however, is an achievable swap that won’t affect speed or functionality but will make a dramatic difference to the carbon footprint.”